The present invention relates generally to a bag-in-box packaging system and more particularly to a flexible container for a bag-in-box system having a supplemental seal to direct a flowable material to a fitment of the container.
Collapsible plastic bags are often used to store liquid products such as chemicals, soft drink syrup, fruit juices and food condiments. The plastic bags are typically housed in a corrugated paperboard box to aid in the transporting, handling and dispensing of the product. Such packaging systems are commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cbag-in-boxxe2x80x9d packaging systems.
The plastic bags typically have sidewalls sealed along a peripheral seam to define a fluid containing chamber. A spout or a fitment provides access to the fluid chamber for filling and dispensing the product within the bag. Vacuum pump systems are sometimes connected to the container to assist in draining fluid from the container. Because fluid is sometimes trapped within folds of the container during draining evacuation channels are often placed within the bag. Evacuation channels are typically elongate cylindrical tubes or flat strips with protruding ribs defining grooves. Typically, one end of the evacuation channel is disposed transverse to, or is connected to the spout, and the other end of the evacuation channel extends into the fluid containing chamber of the bag. As the bag is emptied by the force of the vacuum pump, portions of the bag collapse unevenly, tending to leave pockets of product, typically liquid, which may become isolated from the rest of the liquid in the container. The evacuation channel, however, forms a conduit which cannot be closed off by the vacuum pressure on the walls of the bag. In this manner the entire chamber of the flexible bag remains in communication with the spout at all times during the dispensing such that all product within the bag can be removed.
Prior attempts to provide such bags are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,601,410; 5,647,511 and 5,749,493U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,601,410 and 5,647,511 disclose a liquid container with an evacuation unit. In both the ""410 and ""511 patents, the evacuation unit is shown attached directly to the spout by a mounting ring.
Several problems have been encountered with these types of evacuation units. For example, during the filling process, which is typically done in a high speed and high pressure process, the evacuation unit is susceptible of being dislodged from the spout thereby rendering the evacuation unit inoperative. Also, the attaching ring can impede the flow of liquid during the filling process thereby slowing the filling process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,493 discloses an evacuation unit positioned within a bag and transverse and perpendicular to a spout in the bag. Because the evacuation unit is positioned in a location that is in line with the incoming fluid during the filling process, it is susceptible of being dislodged from its mounting to the container thereby rendering it ineffective.
Other designs and configurations, beyond the three enumerated above, have been utilized by the flexible container industry but those designs have a number of inherent flaws. Foremost among those problems is the requirement of manual insertion of the evacuation channel after the container has been filled with liquid contents. This is highly undesirable because it adds another step to the manufacturing process and increases the labor costs.
Other bag-in-box systems provide for mounting the bag-in-box system into a compartment of a fluid dispenser. The fluid dispenser has a valve that controls the delivery of fluid from the container and the fluid flows from the container by the force of gravity. Such dispensers are commonly used for dispensing non-carbonated beverages such as fruit juices. Containers of this type have suffered from the same problems mentioned above. During the evacuation of the container a significant quantity of fluid can be trapped in the folds of the container which cannot be recovered during a normal dispensing process. In a 2 gallon bag residual fluid in the amount of 12 to 16 ounces has commonly been reported to be wasted upon disposal of the container.
The present invention provides a bag-in-box container system, a container for a bagin-box container system and a method for forming a bag-in-box container system that allows for near complete evacuation of the container without the need of an evacuation unit.
The present invention provides a bag-in-box packaging system having a paperboard box having sidewalls defining an interior chamber and a flexible polymeric container positioned within the sidewalls of the container. The container has sidewalls sealed together along a peripheral edge to define a fluid chamber therebetween. The container also has a dispensing fitment attached to a sidewall and a supplemental seam to direct fluid in an area proximate the fitment.